Food Tag #2: The ‘Hummus Hot’ at Yummus Hummus

Editor’s Note: Welcome back to ‘The Brooklyn Food Chain’ – a little experiment designed to link together Brooklyn chefs’ favorite bites. Each week, contributor Mariko Makino will ask a local chef to name one of their favorite go-to dishes – something they can’t get enough of when they’re heading out for a bite. With her weekly pick in hand, Mariko will chat with its creator about how it’s prepared, and ask that chef in turn to name their favorite, adding another link to ‘The Brooklyn Food Chain.’

The "Hummus Hot" from Yummus Hummus gets the nod as this week's chef pick.

Last week, co-owner of Brooklyn Salsa, Rob Behnke, chose Momo Sushi Shack’s “Mexican Bomb” as his current fave. Let’s see what Philip Gilmour, the Mexican Bomb’s creator, has been eating lately.

Philip Gilmour, co-owner of Momo Sushi Shack, on his current favorite dish in Brooklyn:

“The Hummus Hot from Yummus Hummus was so unbelievably good when I tasted it two months ago, I went back three times that same week to have it again — it’s my absolute favorite. My mother grew up in Iran and Lebanon and my girlfriend lived in Israel and Jordan. I know a lot of good Middle Eastern food and I cannot even imagine a hummus being better than their hummus.”

Jay Leritz and Sean Biloski, co-owners of Yummus Hummus respond:

Sean: ”The Hummus Hot is probably one of our most popular hummus dishes here. It has two of our hot sauces, so it’s for a real hot lover. One of the sauces is a red chili sauce that has a smoky flavor, we make it with dried chilies and it’s basically a harissa or North African hot sauce.”

Jay: “Then the green hot sauce is yogurt based and made with jalapenos. It’s less smoky, has a fresher flavor and we add a strained Mediterranean-style yogurt to add creaminess. The dish is drenched in hot sauce, basically half hot sauce and half hummus, and it comes with feta cheese, fresh made pita, olives, pickles, olive oil and tahini.”

“Our hummus has a little bit to do with the recipe and a lot to do with the way its prepared. A lot of hummus tends to be grainy or lumpy and ours is just super-creamy because we process it through a machine that gets it very fine. That’s the only difference, otherwise the recipe is pretty standard. Most of the recipes here are thousands of years old, and they’ve lasted forever because they are simple and easy to make. You don’t want to mess them too much, but instead stick to what made the dish so enduring to begin with.”

If you missed the first edition of The Brooklyn Food Chain, you can read more about Momo Sushi Shack’s “Mexican Bomb” here.

Check back next week for Yummus Hummus’ favorite current go-to dish.

Yummus Hummus is located at 55 Waterbury Street (between Bushwick Ave and Morgan Ave) in East Williamsburg. In addition to serving up homemade hummus and pita, they open early and offer gourmet coffee, tea, and breakfast items. The space was designed from the ground up by Sean and Jay, who utilized recycled material from around NY to build the cozy space. Drop in, won’t ya?